Flier



19, 4- A. E. WINSLOW 2,355,660

' FLYER Filed Aug. 21, 1943 INVENTOR v ATTORNEYS Patented Dec. 19, 1944FLIEB.

Albert E. Winslow, Mystic, Conn., assignor to Atwood Machine Company, acorporation of Connecticut Application August 21, 1943, Serial No.499,574 3 Claims. -(Cl. 57-116) This application relates to a flier forguiding strand material from a package to cause the strands to be laidin a helical formationone about the other or a plurality so laid about acore.

The flier which is the subject of this application has particular use inthe method of stranding cable 'as described in my co-pending applicationSerial No. 499,576 and may be used in combination with a cap for thesupply package of a pinrality of strands as shown in my co-pending apvplication'Serial No. 499,575 where the structure controlling themovement of the flier relative to the package and cap is morespecifically set forth. One of the objects of this invention is toprovide a flier which will individually guide each of several of aplurality of .strandswhich are wrapped in parallel relation or spooledin parallel relation upon the supply package from such package.

Another object of this invention is to remove each of a plurality ofstrands tangentially from a supply package at equal angular distancesabout its periphery. v

Another object of this invention is to provide a flier which will benicely balanced by reason of the guide arms being spaced at equalangular distances about the axis of rotation of the flier which alsoserves to guide. the strands about a conical path so as to lay thestrands evenly in uniform helical relationship one about the other oruniformly about a core which may b passed centrally through the formedcable.

Fig. 6 is a top plan view of "a six-arm filer such as indicated in Fig.5. L

The flier which is the subject matter of this application is providedwith a plurality of equally angularly spaced arms and is used for takingofl several strands of material wound in parallel relation upon a supplypackage, there being one arm for each of the parallel strands wound onthe package. The package is driven so that the strands which are takenfrom the package will be twisted one about'the other in helical fashion.The number of twists for any given linear dimension will be thediiferential between the number of turns of the package and thenumber ofturns of the flier through which the material is guided.

With reference more particularly to the drawme Ill designates the supplypackage which has been wound with parallel strands in this particularinstance wire. The number of parallel strands is, for example, shown tobe three and the number of arms of the flier will correspond and bethree as illustrated in Figs. 1 to 3. The package With these and otherobjects in view, the inventionconsists of certain novel features ofconstruction, as will be more fully described and particularly pointedout in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawing: a

Fig. l is an elevation illustrating a supply parakage with cap and fliermounted thereon and showing the feed rolls drawing the strand materialfrom the package;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the flier alone;

Fig. 3 is an elevation of the body of the flier with the arms removed;

Fig. 4 is a top plan view of one of the arms of the flier beforepositioning in the body;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view illustrating diagrammatically the manner ofunwinding the strands from the supply package and indicating the arms ofthe flier for accommodating several of the strands; the view is amodiflcation'with reference to the number of armson the flier from thatheretofore shown;

is driven by a whirl H which is attached to the spindle designated I!which is suitably mounted for rotation and supported in the rail IS. Acap designated generally it is positioned on the package and the flierdesignated generally i5 is supported on the washer IS on the cap whilethe spring I! engaging the under side of the abutment member l8 exertspressure downwardly on th flier through the washer i9 having a collar 20about which the spring engages.

The body of the flier i5 designated generally 2| is a metal castingwhich has a slightly raised boss 22 having a finished engaging surface23 which is circular or annular in shape. An opening 24 provided in theflier enables it to encircle the hub portion of the-cap for mountingthereon. This finished surface 23 faces downwardly and engages thefriction washer 26 as shown in Fig. 1 while the opposite surface 25 ofthe flier is also finished to be engaged by the washer iii. In plan view(see Fig. 2) the flier is symmetrical in shape and is here shown asgenerally triangular so as to be in dynamic balance when rotated. Ateach of the blunt corners of the triangle and located beyond a pointwhere engagement with the,

ll flaring somewhat from this bend and then sharply bent as at 32 to onecross the other as at 33 with the legs 34 extending parallel and passingthrough the opening 21 and 28 where they are' then bent in oppositedirections as-at 35 (see Fig. 2) with the shoulder portions 36 snuglyagainst the outer surface of the block 26 so as to hold the arm firmlyin position in the body as shown in Fig. 2.

Each of the arms provides a loop portion 31 through which strandmaterial 38 may extend, there being three arms three strands of materialwill be taken oil the package I! one through each 01' the loops of thearms 31 in equally angular relation.

In Fig. 6 I have shown a structure similar to Fig. 2 but provided withsix arms 42 instead oi three arms. These arms are equally spaced aboutthe body designated generally 40, which body is of generally circularshape. In this case, however, there will be a supply package on whichsix parallel strands are wound.

The showing in Fig. illustrates the several strands 4| being led fromthe package each tangentially from the body thereoi through one of thearms 42 of the six arms to equally space the six strands both as totangential relation in being drawn from the package and as to angularrelation from being laid in helical shape or twisted one about the otherat a point close to the guide rolls 45 as shown in Fig. 1. It will, ofcourse, be

apparent that any number of strands may be utilized depending upon thecable which is to be formed.

The arrangement as here shown will place each of the strands in helicalform without putting any twist or torsion in each of the strandsthemselves.

I claim:

1. A flier comprising a symmetrically shaped body having a centralopening therein and a surface adapted to be frictionally engaged by aportion carried by the strand packagewith which the flier is to beassociated so as to have a frictional contact therewith, and a pluralityof guide arms formed of wire and extending outwardly from the and inequally spaced angular relation one from another, said arm bent toprovide an outer bight with spaced portions with said arms being all ofthe same shape to maintain the flier in dynamic balance.

2. A flier comprising a symmetrically shaped body having a; centralaxial opening therein and pairs 01' radially outwardly extendingopenings with each pair equally spaced from each other, a plurality ofguide arms extendingoutwardly from the body and in equally spacedangular relation one from the other, each of said guide arms comprisinga length of wire bent into substantially U-shape to provide a guidingloop for a strand to pass therethrough, the free end portions of each 01said guides extending through the said outwardly extending openings andthere secured in place.

3. A flier comprising a symmetrically shaped body having a central axialopening and a plurality of equally spaced thickened portions at theperipheral edge portion thereof, each of said por-- tions havingoutwardly extending openings there in, a plurality of guide armsextendingoutwardly from the body and in equally spaced angular relationone from the other, each of said guide arms being bent to provide aguiding loop for a strand to pass through, said guide arms having aportion extending through the said openings in said thickened portionand there secured in place.

ALBERT E. WINSUOW.

